Remus Lupin
- New From J. K. Rowling - Remus Lupin Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain |died=1 May, 1998''J. K. Rowling: A Year in the Life'' Documentary included in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, Banff, Scotland - Chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale) |blood=Half-blood |marital=Married - Chapter 4 (The Seven Potters) |alias=Moony - Chapter 18 (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs) |title=Professor - Chapter 5 (The Dementor) |signature= |hidep= |species=Werewolf - Chapter 17 (Cat, Rat and Dog) |gender=Male |height=6 FT, 2 IN''Harry Potter Limited Edition'' |hair=Light brown Grey |eyes=Green |skin=Light |hidef= |family=*Lyall (father) *Hope (mother) *Nymphadora (wife) *Edward (son) |hidem= |animagus= |boggart=Full moon - Chapter 7 (The Boggart in the Wardrobe) |wand=Cypress and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches, pliable |patronus=Wolf |hidea= |job=Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts |house=Gryffindor |loyalty= }} Professor Remus John Lupin - Chapter 25 (Shell Cottage) (10 March, 1960 - 1 May, 1998), also known as Moony was a Welsh half-blood werewolf and the Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts in the 1993-1994 school year. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix in both the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Remus was the loving husband of Nymphadora Tonks, a charismatic and innocent pink-haired young woman, and the proud and caring father of Edward Remus Lupin, who was born on 29 April, 1998. He named his son after his father-in-law Edward Tonks, and decreed that Harry Potter, a former student and a close family friend, would be godfather. Shortly before midnight on 1 May, 1998, a battle broke out on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, claiming the lives of fifty brave and noble witches and wizards. The first of these casualties was Remus Lupin, who had led a group of fighters to the grounds with his accomplice Kingsley Shacklebolt and who rushed off to fight the fierce and brutal Death Eater Antonin Dolohov. Remus's duelling skills were greatly diminished after months of using only spells of concealment and protection, and when he ran up against a duellist of Dolohov's skill, his reactions were too slow. Remus Lupin was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, the first and only werewolf to be accorded the honour. His life and death did much to lift the stigma surrounding werewolves, and those who knew him never forgot him: a brave, kind man who did his very best in difficult circumstances and helped all of those around him more than he ever realised. Biography Early life Youngest years Lyall Lupin was an expert on Non-Human Spirituous Apparitions (such as Boggarts and poltergeists); it was on an investigative trip to a dense forest in Cardiff in which a rather nasty Boggart was supposedly lurking that he met his future wife. Hope Howell was a beautiful Muggle girl who worked in a nearby insurance office, and had taken an ill-advised stroll through the dark woodland, where she stumbled upon the Boggart that Lyall had been looking for. Her imagination had always been rather overactive, and she became so convinced that something was watching her through the dark trees that the Boggart took a form, that of a large and sinister-looking man reaching towards her with a snarl. Hearing her scream, Lyall rushed into the clearing and made the Boggart vanish with a wave of his wand; Hope was so terrified that she became convinced he had driven her would-be attacker away, and his revelation that she had been in no danger bounced right off of her. He noticed that she was very beautiful, and made the wise decision to simply agree that the man had been very scary and accompanied her back home. The two quickly fell in love, and even Lyall's admission a while later that Hope had been in no danger could not deter her enthusiasm for him. Lyall was overjoyed when Hope accepted his proposal for marriage, and the two quickly fell into preparations for the wedding, complete with a Boggart-topped cake. A year later, on 10 March 1960, their first and only child was born: a happy, healthy little boy who the young couple named Remus John Lupin; he displayed obvious signs of magical ability from his first days. He had a very joyful childhood, loved very much by his parents. Bite and lycanthropic childhood By 1964, the amount of Dark activity across the country had reached a spike and few knew exactly what was behind the attacks and disappearances. The Ministry of Magic was soon calling in every known authority on Dark creatures - even such minor ones as Boggarts and poltergeists - to try to understand and contain the threat. Lyall Lupin was among those asked to join the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which he did gladly. Fenrir Greyback, a vicious and sinister werewolf under the employment of Voldemort, was called in for interrogation about the deaths of two Muggle children. He claimed to be a meagre Muggle tramp who found himself astounded to be in a room full of wizards and disgusted by the gruesome tales of the childrens' deaths. Although two members of the committee, overworked and tired, were convinced by Greyback's story, Lyall noticed certain signs in Greyback's behaviour and appearance, and insisted that Greyback be kept in detention for twenty-four hours until the next full moon. Greyback sat in silence while the committee mocked and jeered at Lyall until he, angry, declared that werewolves were soulless and evil and deserved nothing but death. At this, Lyall was ordered out of the room and Greyback was released with a full apology; the Ministry worker who escorted him out had been planning to put a Memory Charm on him to make him forget ever having been in the Ministry. Before he had a chance to do so, Greyback and two accomplices waiting outside overpowered and killed the Ministry worker and fled; along the way, Greyback informed them of what Lyall Lupin had said about them, and they hatched a terrible plan for revenge. Shortly before Remus's fifth birthday, as he slept peacefully in his bed, his window was forced open by Fenrir Greyback, who proceeded to transform and maul the boy; Lyall blasted Greyback out the window, saving his son's life, but it was too late to prevent Remus from extracting lycanthropy. Lyall never forgave himself for the harsh words he had spoken at Fenrir Greyback's trial; he had mimicked everyone else's thoughts on werewolves, but his son was what he always had been: smart, clever and kind. Though Lyall kept the truth from his son for many years, Remus eventually found out nonetheless - Chapter 16 (A Very Frosty Christmas). Thereafter, the family's lives were dominated by the need to keep their young boy's condition a secret; they moved every time whispers started about Remus's odd behaviour, about his pallor in the days immediately preceding and succeeding the full moon, and how he disappeared on the night of the full moon itself. Remus was not allowed to play with the other children for fear that he would let the nature of his condition slip; he therefore was a lonely boy despite his parents' immense love for him. When Remus was small, simple silencing and locking spells usually managed to contain him, though as he grew, so did his wolf self. After five years with his condition, he was capable of bashing down doors and smashing windows, and his parents grew thin with worry and fear, loving their child and knowing of his innocence throughout most of the month, but realising that their community would not forgive an uncontrolled werewolf. They felt that the hopes and dreams they had once had for their child - that he would attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in due time like his father - were in ruins. Hogwarts years First year Albus Dumbledore had spies among the Dark creatures, and thus heard almost immediately of Greyback's attack on Remus. He dug a tunnel from the Hogwarts grounds to a hill in Hogsmeade and had a shack built over one end and a Whomping Willow planted over the other. Shortly before Remus's eleventh birthday, Dumbledore himself came to the Lupins' house and, despite finding his way obstructed by Lyall and Hope, both of whom were flustered and worried, managed to find his way inside and was soon sitting at the fireside eating crumpets and playing Gobstones with Remus. Dumbledore explained how he knew what had happened to Remus and told the Lupins of the arrangements he had made so that Remus could come to Hogwarts safely. He agreed, however, that Remus's condition should not be broadcast due to the widespread prejudice surrounding werewolves. Remus was happier than he ever before had been; it had been his greatest dream to have, for the first time, friends. Remus was sorted into Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, and was swiftly befriended by two cheerful, confident and rebellious young boys, Sirius Black and James Potter. Remus, always the underdog's friend, was kind and friendly to short, slow Peter Pettigrew, who soon joined the group, after which the four became inseparable. Remus functioned as the usually faulty conscience of the group; though he disapproved of their relentless bullying, mostly of Severus Snape, he loved his friends so much that he did not always stand up to them as much as he knew he should. Order Almost immediately after graduating from Hogwarts, Remus, Peter, James and Sirius joined the Order of the Phoenix, a renegade group that contained the only true resistance to Lord Voldemort. Remus was in the north of England on official Order of the Phoenix business when he learned of the deaths of James and Lily, and that Sirius was now in Azkaban while Peter was supposedly dead. This was one of the most traumatic events of Remus's already troubled life, as his friends meant more to him than anyone else in the world. Unemployment By this time, his mother had died and while his father was always happy to see him, Remus refused to endanger Lyall. He consequently lived a hand-to-mouth existence, taking jobs far beyond his skill level for much less than he deserved to be paid and leaving shortly before his coworkers began to notice his strange sickness at the full moon. Although the discovery of the Wolfsbane Potion gave him some hope, Remus soon discovered that the ingredients were too expensive and the recipe too complicated to make, and although free samples were available, Remus preferred not to reveal what he was, and as a consequence continued his lonely existence. Teaching It was Albus Dumbledore who once more changed Remus's life for the better by tracking him down to a tumbledown, dilapidated cottage in Yorkshire, as after Gilderoy Lockhart, the former Defence teacher, blasted away his own memories a new teacher was required. Remus was delighted to see him and incredulously amazed to be offered the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, an offer he only accepted upon learning that Professor Snape, the Potions Master, would provide a limitless supply of Wolfsbane Potion. Once there, Remus proved to be a most gifted teacher, showing a rare flair for his own subject and a perfect understanding of his students. However, his old flaw was back at work; he had grave suspicions about his old friend, a suspected murderer, but his desperate desire to be liked and to belong meant that he was neither as brave or as honest as he ought to have been. After an unfortunate combination of events resulted in Remus undergoing a full werewolf transformation on the grounds, after which Professor Snape's old grudge meant that he lost no time in revealing to the entire school what their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was, caused Remus to feel obliged to resign. Physical appearance Remus had light brown hair that, by the time he was thirty-three, was flecked heavily with grey and was entirely grey by the time he was thirty-seven. He had wide green eyes with dark shadows beneath them, and a very hoarse voice. His robes were shabby and had been darned in innumerable places. Magical skills and abilities *'Charms:' Remus was able to use the Waddiwasi Charm and Boggart-Banishing Spell both to good effect and could use the Unlocking Spell wordlessly. *'Defence Against the Dark Arts:' Remus was an expert on Defence Against the Dark Arts, gifted even beyond the knowledge and capabilities of other wizards. He could produce a corporeal and non-corporeal Patronus and had knowledge of various Dark creatures. *'Legilimency and Occlumency:' Lupin could finish sentences or answer questions before said queries or statements were even halfway finished, in an almost subconscious manner, and was able to guard his thoughts against the scrutiny of skilled Legilimens Severus Snape with such care that Snape never found any proof of his true thoughts and secrets. *'Nonverbal magic:' Remus was able to open doors and trunks - Chapter 12 (The Patronus), light candles and pack trunks - Chapter 22 (Owl Post Again) wordlessly. Behind the scenes *Remus is J. K. Rowling's favourite character. *He usually casts a non-corporeal Patronus because of his disgust for everything lupine. *It is odd that Remus would be worried about his son being lycanthropic, seeing how most he was an expert on Defence Against the Dark Arts and even most wizards with average knowledge of the subject know that lycanthropy cannot be passed on merely by birth. Appearances *''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' *''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' *''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' *''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows: Part 1'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2'' *''Pottermore'' Notes and references Category:Gryffindors Category:Males Category:Wizards Category:Werewolves Category:Deceased Category:Half-bloods Category:Order of the Phoenix